It’s summer, now’s the time to bring out the sunflower dishes, and put fleurs from my garden on the table. They’re in there, see them, sitting amongst all the STUFF!!!

My family gives me constant grief about the fact that there is no room to sit at the table and eat. We have to move everything off. Oh well, it’s cluttered, I like it, I have a cluttered mind. Works for me…

Friday, July 18, 2008

Whatever will I do, no more five minute trips to the Bucks, no more drive-thru, no friendly faces of the people I’ve come to know. They say the building is too large, the overhead too high, oh how I hate this!!! Westside Heavensville Starbucks rocks!!!!! Sure, we have other locations, miles away. But it just isn’t the same!!!!

Of all my friends, Mary will be the one who understands this entry the most. She, too, was raised in the country, just a few miles from where I grew up and her life was very similar to mine.

I was sitting at the bar just now, snapping beans with little Princess Pollywog asleep on the kitchen rug. She never strays far from my side. Mags will take herself off to our bed to nap in her little bean bag, but Mollie shadows me, always.

I have a fat hen in the oven roasting, it’s cool inside, I didn’t have to pick the beans, but they are fresh from the farmer’s market. The hen is Amish grown, grain fed, but I didn’t have to kill it, or pluck it’s feathers, and the corn was picked this morning, but I had no part of walking thru the hot cornrows, pulling it off the stalks.

My life is so different than my Mother’s. We would have the same meal as I’m having this evening, but she would do everything herself, from killing and dressing the chicken, to picking the beans and the corn, and then she would cook it all in a hot kitchen with no running water.

The older I get, the more I admire her tenacity and determination to provide me with the best life she could. She was a good woman, a difficult one, but she was hard working and fair and honest. And I admire her for that…

Notice the Wesson oil plastic measuring cup in the photo to the left. I’ve had it forever, since LC and I were first married, almost thirty-seven years ago now, and it’s one of my favorite things….

The color has faded, and the numbers are worn, but it endures, kinda like me…

And now I’m off, to cook the beans in my electric pressure cooker, where I can set it's digital timer and not worry about it exploding on the stove.

Yep, I’m counting my blessings today, I'm a lucky woman to have such an easy life. You should count yours, too....

We’re lucky enough to have an orchard within a few minutes from us. Hubby took me for a basket of Red Havens and a quart of blueberries earlier this week, and yep, they tasted just as good as they look…

Thanks to Trisher for the great photos, she too has been to the orchard, but unlike me, who forgets to take my camera, she remembered to take hers!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

I got out in the 90+ heat today, because I just HAD to have a copy of this magazine. Oh, it was so worth my trip. Lots more ice cream recipes other than the one shown, some great sauces, super salads, too.

Lots of things to look at that I will never make. I actually don’t buy many magazines these days, the ones I get just sit around and I don’t read them. I’m too busy doing nothing on the computer to stop and read. Sad, isn’t it…

And after reading all the great ice cream recipes the hunt was on for that Haagen Daz Lemon Sorbet that they were raving about on GMA, but apparently Heavensville stores don’t realize it’s a “must have” because they “didn’t have” it!!!!!

So, I went to plan B. . .

I picked up this little container of Blue Bunny Light Personals, Super Fudge Brownie. It’s an individual serving, and it’s 120 calories. And was it Super? You’re damned tootin’ it was. This stuff tastes great. Well, not as great as that chocolate covered cherry cone, but not a bad substitute.

Actually, our anniversary is coming up in a couple of weeks, I’m thinking some of those cherry ice cream cones would be great for our anniversary. I know, you are all thinking I’m nuts, why would I want those ice cream cones for my anniversary, but I’m tellin’ ya, I’m a CHERRYHOLIC.

I remember the 80’s and those light rings that I used to put on top of light bulbs and fill with essential oils. Mostly it was cinnamon, I used them so often that to this day I can’t tolerate the smell of cinnamon in a room. If I go into shop and get a whiff, I’m outta there so fast….

I do, however, adore citrus scents. My favorite things in the summertime are These little wallflower plug-ins from Bath & Body Works, and my fragrance of choice is Juicy Nectarine. I love Pineapple Mango, too and in the winter it’s Creamy Caramel.

More yummy smells, my all-time fave for years now has been Yankee Candle Pineapple Paradise. Ohhhhhh, it’s wonderful and makes my house smell absolutely tropical. Love those smells, what about the rest of you. Everybody loves scents.

Do you have any favorites you want to share? Just leave me a comment, you may inspire me to try something new…

When I was a little girl, Daddy bought me my first transistor radio, I think it was for my eighth birthday, and it looked really similar to the one pictured here. I could only get AM stations on it, no, let me correct that, I could just get one AMstation, since I lived so far away from civilization, it was the local WROY – 1460AM on your radio dial and my radio used this big old battery that had to be replaced constantly, no rechargeables in those days. But, oh, I had this snazzy brown leather cover to “protect” it, and I thought it was sooooo cool. That radio was really something to a little country girl…

And since I lived in a rural community that station had a lot of “talk.” Of course talk radio wasn’t recognized as such in the 50’s, but all I could listen to on that silly station were farm reports, the local “Swap Shop”, lots of local news and occasionally horrible music that the local yokels played. However, I thought it was the most amazing thing EV-ER, and I went around with the ear piece implanted in my ear, walking the downtown streets, listening to that awful station like it was really something special. And, of course, that station is still around today, still playing the same bad music and the “Swap Shop” is still going strong.

I thought of that old transistor radio early this morning when I was out walking with my iPod with it’s 80 gig harddrive, it’s slick aqua blue rubberized skin, and my state of the art stereo earbuds firmly implanted in my ears. And was I Iistening to one of the gadzillion albums I have downloaded on this thing, heck no, I was listening to NPR talk radio.

Do you think that’s a throwback to my Arvin and that gawdawful WROY station I listened to as a child. Could be, who knows, but I had a marvelous time, and enjoyed my iPod immensely. I’m in the country, walking by a creek, the canadian geese are swimming in the pond, the sky was blue and the fresh mown hay smelled heavenly. And life was certainly good this sunny July morning…

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Last night my friend and I were sitting in the den and I said to her, 'I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle to keep me alive. That would be no quality of life at all, If that ever happens, just pull the plug.'

Hubby has a bug, so he went to the dr. yesterday, got his prescriptions, we went to CVS with them - our prescription insurance apparently isn't in the system yet, so he had to pay for them out of pocket.

Anyway, Ryan had told me that when you take scripts to either CVS or Walgreen to ask them to match either WalMart or Sam's prices. I told hubby that, apparently he forgot, and I was wandering by the counter when the tech was ringing him up to the tune of $120.00. I asked her if she had matched WalMart prices, and she got this funny look on her face and said, "no, we don't do that unless the customer asks, but I will check it for you." So she calls WalMart, and the cost of his meds ended up being $60.00. That's half price of what they were going to charge us.

So, if you aren't familiar with the price matching, and you have to pay out of pocket, you might want to remember this info the next time you have your prescriptions filled.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Starbucks is unleashing another "healthy" answer to the extra caramel Frappuccino with extra whip. Launching Tuesday, the "Vivanno" will taste, look, and act like a smoothie but since it's "so much more than a smoothie" according to Starbucks, they won't let you call it one.The Vivanno will come in two flavors: Orange Mango Banana Blend, made with Naked Juice, protein and fiber powders, milk, and ice, with 227 calories in a grande.In the Banana Chocolate Blend, mocha syrup replaces the juice, and there's 270 calories for the same 16 ounces.

Each blend also contains a whole banana, which Starbucks really wants you to know and love.Staffers were reminded repeatedly that there's “at least one serving of fruit with a whole banana" throughout corporate training. They even watched a DVD underscoring the banana presence.And bananas are good. Americans eat as many bananas as apples and oranges combined. Less than 300 calories is also good, as Frappucinos can easily reach the 600- to 700-calorie range.But is Starbucks a smoothie house? Not according to the barista blogger. "This isn’t Jamba Juice. This isn’t Smoothie King. This is Starbucks Coffee & Tea. Not Starbucks Coffee & Tea & Smoothies. Or I suppose Starbucks Coffee & Tea & Nourishing Blends.

"Source: Serious Eats"

I just read the nutritionals on these drinks, a Grande Orange Mango will cost you 4 Weight Watcher Points,theGrande Banana Chocolate, 5 Weight Watcher Points. Not too shabby, Starbucks...

"I will fill my body with seasonal, healthy, fresh food that will nourish me. I will eat and my body will be replenished with the sustenance received."

Yeah, sure I will. Tonight's menu for me, anyway, was frozen fordhook lima beans, fresh homegrown tomatoes and corn from the neighborhood stand, that's all, just those three things, fresh, bright colors, good for me.....

So I'm off to the grocery for the lima beans, I'm pissed off before I even start to cook because the lima beans were triple the price I usually pay. I cook the beans, hubby shucks the corn, oops, It's immature, not filled out at all and a bit wormy, I sliced my tomato, it's hard as a rock, and definitely not homegrown. He had a burger, but oh, no, not me I'm eating healthy.

Well it was not a good meal, girlfriends. Not good at all. I most certainly don't have that satisfied feeling... And replenished , who am I kidding. I'm not even close to being replenished. Oh, I'm really funny, huh???

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Okay, I'm smitten, I admit it. Ever since this spring when I got a Williams-Sonoma Catalog that featured this Beehive Brick Pizza Oven, I've been drooling. I've also been drooling over the price, this bad boy will cost you $2,000.00. TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS, yes, do you believe it? This does not look like something that would cost TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS.

So this morning, I was out for my morning walk, with my earbuds stuck in my ears, listening to, no not music on my IPod, I seldom listen to music on it, I was listing to a Podcast of my beloved Splendid Table, and there was this guy on there, he's written a book, no surprise there, people are always writing books, but this guy builds his own earth ovens, and they are made of mud.

Hmmmmmm, I thought the whole thing was fascinating, first he builds a dome of sand, and then uses some kind of mud mixture and forms the shape over the sand dome, and when it hardens, he pours out the sand, he puts some kind of coating on it so that it won't turn back into mud if it rains, and voila, you have a "mud" oven to fill with wood, and cook bread, pizza, soup, meat, whatever your little heart desires in it.

And the cost of this puppy? Nada, el zippo, practically nothing. Certainly not TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS. Egads, just the thought of coughing up that chunk-a-change for a clay oven makes me hyperventilate.

I've always been famous in our family for thinking up all these wacky ideas, and talking LC into trying them, I don't know if the old girl still has it, though. Hubby isn't too excited about playing with a pile of mud, but maybe I can talk the guys into it. Hey, my boys are in their 30's, they should be up for it, right???? Well, we'll see. We could make it the same shape as this one in the picture, instead of a Beehive Oven we could call it our, ummmmm, Mudpie Oven. That would work....

But in he meantime, here's the CLICK if you want to check out the book for the mud oven. Who knows, maybe some of you will be crazy enough to try it. It absolutely fascinates me, but then a lot of things fascinate me, so it's not really much of a stretch. And then there is my mentality to consider.

Oh, whatever, just check the damn thing out!!!!!!! And while you're at it, check out the book reviews, HERE, people liked this thing, they really liked it!!!!

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I'm Jan, thanks for stopping by...

I gush about the grandkids, post strange, rambling erratic thoughts, embarrass my family and friends and often I sit in the sunshine, drink diet sweet tea and try my best to live in the moment every . single . day . Did I leave anything out? Hey, I'm old(er) now and wiser too. Now if I could just remember what I'm talking about and whom I'm talking to...